TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Alabama's future was on full display during the second half of last week's game against Georgia State.

Freshman running back Derrick Henry plowed down the middle of the field. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Black zipped back and forth on his way to a team-high six catches. Five-star linebacker Reuben Foster commanded the middle of the defense for the final 25 minutes or so.

And then there was a fourth-year junior playing a position different from the one he was originally recruited to play.

Yes, you're still allowed to include quarterback Blake Sims in your "future" discussions about Alabama football.

Just two springs ago, Sims wasn't a quarterback. At least not a full-time one. He wasn't practicing, either, after suffering a hip injury during a pick-up basketball game. It appeared to put Sims on the wrong end of the competition for snaps at running back and landed him on the wrong end of a Nick Saban quote that hinted at a little frustration.

"We try to get these guys not to play basketball, but they all think
they can play in the NBA," Saban said. "I guess we've just got to suffer the
consequences for that."

Those consequences, combined with the departure of backup quarterback Phillip Sims, led to an opportunity that Blake Sims (no relation) has maximized.

A quarterback at Gainesville (Ga.) High School, Sims had enough of an arm to hold his own, but his accuracy needed fine-tuning. The difference between the Sims who threw passes during preseason camp last year and the one who completed 14-of-18 for 130 yards and a touchdown against Georgia State was night and day.

This was Sims operating Alabama's actual offense, not the one he ran during 10 games last season, where his only objective was to milk as much clock as possible and not make any mistakes. This was Sims, much like starter AJ McCarron, taking what the defense gave him (short, quick passes) rather than force it down field. This was Sims ignoring his instincts to run wild against an overmatched Georgia State defense and showing off his improved accuracy and understanding of the offense.

"He has improved to a large degree as a passer," Saban said. "His judgment has improved
as a passer and I think he has to continue to have confidence in his
ability to pass and know that he doesn't have to make plays with his
feet all the time, which I think this last game helped him in that
regard."

Reading between the lines and watching what happened inside the lines of Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, this was Sims taking a giant leap ahead of the pack in the competition to be Alabama's starting quarterback in 2014.

Because Alabama has only started three quarterbacks since Saban took over in 2007, history can only take us so far. But it's important to note a couple of things: 1) Saban has not played played a true freshman at quarterback for even a single snap, and 2) The quarterbacks who won the starting job came into their respective competitions with at least six games' worth of late-game mop-up duty on their resume.

Greg McElroy saw the field six times in 2008 before he became the starter in 2009. AJ McCarron, who nearly played as a true freshman, completed 30-of-48 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns in 2010. Like Sims, he also was the only quarterback used in a rout of Georgia State, as he entered in the second quarter and completed 7-of-9 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Alabama's other four quarterbacks behind McCarron and Sims -- redshirt freshman Alec Morris and true freshmen Luke Del Rio, Cooper Bateman and Parker McLeod -- have yet to take a snap. Highly touted prospect David Cornwell, who suffered a knee injury last week, plans to enroll early and join the fray during spring ball.

So, yes, it's incredibly early and now is the proper time to appreciate what Alabama has in McCarron during his final season.

But even McCarron can appreciate what kind of progress Sims has made in little more than a year.

"He did a good job," McCarron said. "Came in, took command of the offense the way he was supposed to, was efficient with the ball. Proud of him."